[Dutchmang]

Originally Posted by Yours Truly

What i'm trying to say really is this is better than some money grabbing company coming in with no idea of what vBulletin is, how it works and what it is used for.

This is one of the best comments so far in this thread. (Understanding that the original comment is around making money off vBulletin or remuneration for work contributed, so I'm the one who's off-topic.)

It's certainly positive that someone who actually understands the product is buying it; if this were, for example, a leveraged buyout firm (e.g., "money grubbing company") then it would be about squeezing the cash out of the carcass of vB until it's worthless. But I have to suspect vB wasn't attractive to such entities because they typically look for "synergies" (read: job cuts) for most of the profits, and clearly Jelsoft doesn't have dozens of redundant people to jettison.

My concern -- ok call it a sinking feeling -- is that what Jelsoft really needs is a professional development discipline to get it from "cool php hack" to "competitive commercial offering," and I was holding out hope that some real software shop would snag them for the brand recognition and market-leading installed base.

If I'm Internet Brands, I have two real options. The first is to pump a lot of investment into vB and add value, thereby creating more revenue from new/upgrading customers, per my hope above. (Note that pricing isn't a big concern, as I don't think vB has a lot of additional room here based on the existence of competitors including the free phbBB project.) The second option is for IB to optimize vBulletin for their own needs and not bother with the other customers... who will be asking for enhancements that don't benefit IB in any meaningful way. Logically this would be masked by statements to the contrary so that revenue would diminish slower, but eventually it would be clear to everyone.

And since IB is a WEB SITE AGGREGATOR, not a software developer.... well golly I don't think it's paranoia to worry that option 2 is in the cards.

Note that I'm not blaming IB or vB for doing this as each benefits. Jelsoft executes the classic software exit strategy, while IB gets complete control over one of its core software programs -- presumably at a very good price and leveraging future vB earnings. Me, I'm just doing the old chess thing and looking a move or two ahead. That's not "Chicken Little," that's just paying attention.

Dutch